It’s Monday morning and time to do a quick wrap-up of the posts published on trak last week. If you were offline for any reason, this is a great way to catch up with all the tech buzz from the last week

Internet/Tech/E-Commerce

Paytm has introduced Paytm Food Wallet, within their main Paytm app, that can act as digital food vouchers. This spells tough competition for the current market leader in this space, Sodexho!

Let’s accept it – Everyone wants to have content that goes viral! But not all of us are able to do that. We sit and watch those pictures and links from a certain brand or blogger being shared all across the internet and go red with envy.

When it comes to Internet readiness, then there is no other place like New Delhi in India. As per IAMAI’s latest Internet Readiness Report, National Capital Delhi has beaten all states. Karnataka is ranked #2 in this report, whereas Maharashtra and Kerala are at #3 and #4 position.

Facebook has revealed conceptions and actual demos which makes science fiction as a reality and pushes us straight into the future. Soon, you can type directly into a computer and listen to your skin. Thanks to Facebook’s new technology

Flipkart, the e-commerce company based out of Bangalore is set to tighten its return policy for many popular products that are sold over its platform. The move is said to help the company and vendors on board cut operational costs; however, as a repercussion, the website might also isolate many of its customers.

Traditional payment processing and payment card companies, Visa and Mastercard, are feeling threatened now, and the reason is the exponential rise of Govt. backed digital payment platforms: Aadhaar Pay and UPI, which combined with BHIM App is giving these companies sleepless nights.

After the US, it is the turn of Australia to adopt protectionism for their citizens. In a move to encourage local hiring, and to stop foreign workers from coming into their country, Australia has abolished 457 work visa.

Japanese business conglomerate & investor Softbank is planning a couple of big moves in India. As e-commerce portals are gasping for investments and grocery apps are struggling to survive, Softbank is making some concrete moves to seize the opportunity, and make deep inroads into the Indian Internet and mobile ecosystem.

US Govt.’s biggest protectionism move: ‘Buy American, Hire American’ order has been finally approved by President Trump. In a highly symbolic gesture, President Trump visited a tool factory at Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the Chicago-Milwaukee industrial corridor, and signed the order.

With 70+ million downloads, Gaana is India’s #1 online music app, even as other established players such as Saavn, Wynk, Hungama, Apple Music, Raaga are ramping up efforts to capture the market. However, the entry of subscription-based Google Play Music early this month created a buzz in the industry.

Telecom/Mobile/Gadgets

Jio has launched one of the cheapest international calling plan for all their customers: Now, with a special plan, users can call international destinations for as Rs 3/ minute. Priced at Rs 501, this special plan is called ‘ISD Cutter’, and for most of the countries, the tariff drops to Rs 3/minute under this plan

The Vivo Jio Cricket Mania offer provides users with free data depending upon the performance of their selected cricket team in the IPL 2017. The interesting part about this offer is that you will get the complimentary 4G data whether your team loses or wins the matches. The amount of free data will vary with the success of your team, of course. You will be awarded 3 GB 4G data if your team wins, 2 GB if its draws a match, and 1 GB if it loses a match. So you will get free data in any case.

In an interesting turn of event, Varanasi’s District Magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra and Senior Superintendent of Police Nitin Tiwari have issued a joint order, according to which Admins of any WhatsApp or Facebook group can be arrested, if any offensive or fake news is being spread via their respective groups.